Updating Gaza Voter Lists 'to Take Six Weeks'

The long-overdue process of updating electoral lists in Gaza is expected to take six weeks, the head of the Palestinian Central Election Commission said on Tuesday.

The announcement was made a day after Hamas gave the CEC the green light to begin updating the lists for the first time in six years in a key step to paving the way for elections.

"The updating of the electoral lists will take six weeks from Saturday," CEC president Hanna Nasser said in a statement in which he said the process would focus on "administrative and logistical preparations" and a campaign to raise public awareness.

"The registration of citizens will take place in the fifth and sixth weeks, when voters will be asked to register in electoral centers and update their details," he said.

At a meeting in Cairo on May 20, senior Fatah and Hamas officials agreed that the CEC would start work in Gaza by the end of the month, and that both factions would at the same time begin consultations on forming an interim "government of independents."

The first meeting aimed at piecing together the caretaker cabinet began in Cairo late on Monday where Fatah envoy Azzam al-Ahmed held talks with the deputy head of Hamas's politburo, Moussa Abu Marzouq, officials said.

Holding elections and putting together a caretaker cabinet are two of the main issues that have been holding up implementation of a reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah factions, which was inked on April 27, 2011 but which has since stalled.